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Sunday, September 24
U.S. women remain unbeaten
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Margo Dydek helped bring Poland a lot
closer to the U.S. women's basketball team this time. It still
wasn't close enough.
Booed and jeered throughout the second half, the United States
rolled past Poland 76-57 Sunday to remain unbeaten in the Sydney
Games and claim first place in its preliminary group.
|  | | Yolanda Griffith led the United States with 16 points. |
Now it's on to the quarterfinals for the Americans (5-0), who
haven't had a game closer than 11 points and remain the gold medal
favorite in these Olympics.
Against Poland, the United States raced to a 23-point halftime
lead, then did just enough in the second half to stay in control.
"I was very pleased with the first half and not as pleased with
the second," U.S. coach Nell Fortner said. "We pushed the ball
well and defended well in the first half, then lost some of our
intensity. We fouled too much in the second half and slowed the
game down, and we didn't want to do that."
Dydek, the 7-foot-2 shot-blocking specialist for the WNBA's Utah
Starzz, did not play when the United States beat Poland 86-39 in an
exhibition game in Adelaide on Sept. 7.
Having Dydek helped Poland on Sunday, but defense by Yolanda
Griffith, DeLisha Milton and Natalie Williams kept her from
dominating the game early. She scored 18 of her 24 points in the
second half, when the United States was safely ahead, and had 10
rebounds.
"We just felt if we could send a lot of defenders at her we
could slow her down and make her tired," Griffith said.
Sheryl Swoopes and Griffith led the United States with 16 points
each. Lisa Leslie added 14. Griffith also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Crowds in the Olympics tend to favor the underdog, so Poland had
the fans on its side from the start. They turned against the United
States even more after Leslie knocked a Polish player out of the
game.
Leslie grabbed an offensive rebound early in the second half and
stuck out her backside to clear space. The move sent Poland's Edyta
Koryzna sprawling backward to the floor, apparently knocking the
wind out of her. Koryzna was carried off the floor and later taken
out of the arena in a wheelchair.
She was taken to the hospital for X-rays to determine if she had
any internal injuries.
"I don't think I hit her," Leslie said. "I didn't see her at
all, so I would have to watch replays. From where she was on the
free throw line and where I was down low, I didn't see her at
all."
Fans booed Leslie every time she touched the ball after that and
the entire crowd took up the chant "Pols-ka, Pols-ka." It made
little difference.
The United States, quicker and deeper, kept its composure and
stayed safely ahead. Poland cut a 25-point lead to 58-44 with 9:10
left, but the Americans answered with an 8-2 run that included four
points by Swoopes to get the lead back to 20.
Poland (3-2) was never closer than 16 points after that.
"I think the crowds will always be fickle and I expect it to go
back and forth," Leslie said. "The same people that cheer for you
one day are the same people that are against you the next. That's
just the way it goes with fans."
Australia also went 5-0 to win the other preliminary group,
keeping alive the possibility of a highly anticipated meeting with
the United States in the gold medal game. The Australians finished
pool play with their closest game of the Olympics, a 69-62 victory
over France.
The quarterfinals start Wednesday. From now on, any loss
eliminates a team from gold medal contention. Poland also made the
quarterfinals and will play Australia.
"We set as our minimum reaching the quarterfinals," Dydek
said. "We had one bad day, the game against Russia."
Russia beat Poland 84-46 last Monday.
Poland frustrated the United States early with a 2-3 zone that
forced the Americans to the perimeter and prevented them from
getting the ball inside. The outside shots didn't fall and Poland
trailed just 12-10 after 7½ minutes.
But a zone is useless against a fast break, and once the
Americans got theirs going, Poland was left trailing in its wake.
Then the outside shots started dropping and the United States broke
it open.
A 20-4 run highlighted by fast breaks and crisp passing in
half-court sets stretched the lead to 32-14. The Americans finished
that run with 12 straight points, all with Dydek on the bench. That
opened things up for Leslie and she took advantage.
She sank a jumper from the left corner, hit two free throws
after being fouled on a drive to the basket and nailed a 3-pointer
from the right side. Smith had started the burst with a 3-pointer
from the left corner, the United States' first basket from behind
the arc after five straight misses.
Consecutive 3s by Swoopes and Dawn Staley made it 38-16, and the
United States led 44-21 at the half.
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